ePortfolios: A User Generated Link
"I think the answer to student portfolios is Web 2.0 — that is, students should be doing (authentic) work somewhere, and turn in a URL to that work." (Maybe Universities should not host ePortfolios)
Interesting thought. What if you adopted a decentralized stance towards ePortfolios? You would solve plenty of problems like: Who owns the ePortfolio? Who keeps it when the student graduates? My server is hosting the ePortfolio of a few hundred students, and boy that’s getting mighty expensive!
A decentralized approach would also enable greater autonomy and creativity.I have been exploring a few university ePortfolio programs, and I’ve not enjoyed a lot of what I’ve met. The majority feel boxy, like eCookie cutters that don’t seem to openly embrace messy learning.
I think that feeling of "I don’t like this space" is an important one to pay attention to. If you don’t feel drawn in, you won’t stick around. If you don’t want to hang out in your ePortfolio, chances are you’ll just use it to get the grade, and that soundly defeats the point of a personal learning environment doesn’t it?
Web 2 is fun. It’s a cool place to be. It’s a cool space to work in. I would even say it’s addictive. Shouldn’t that be a foundation to ePortfolios? A place where students could become easily addicted to ongoing learning? A place where development is fun?
